It’s not every day we get to see Gaimin tremble to the threat of another opponent. After all, they are the three-time consecutive Major Champions.
Hovewer, those who watched yesterday’s elimination series between Gaimin and Tundra Esports would tell you it was nail-biting. For the uninitiated, Gaimin eventually won the series, but Tundra surely gave Gaimin a run for their money.
GG are now set to meet Quest in the Lower Bracket and face elimination in a Bracket run for the first time this season.
Image source: Gaimin Gladiators
Quest Esports vs Gaimin Gladiators
After a struggle with their regional rival, Gaimin’s next opponent is none other than newcomes Quest Esports.
Even so, they are still second to the other WEU teams, namely Tundra, Team Liquid and Gaimin themselves, based on Bali Major results. As Quest enters this series, there could be hints about how to shut down Gaimin, notably Quinn “Quinn” Callahan.
Quinn is Gaimin’s only roster change since their underwhelming International 11 (TI11) run last year and has been in the spotlight for good reasons. His formidable mid experience makes him one of the most consistent carry players this season, and he has been attributed to many Gaimin successes.
Break Quinn, Break Gaimin
If there’s anything to take away from the Tundra vs Gaimin series, it was Quinn’s unusually bad performance. His mid Pangolier was seventh in terms of net worth at 44 minutes, which was embarrassing, to say the least. Tundra did good work at crippling Pangolier, all thanks to Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu’s Spirit Breaker. Considering he was second in net worth as a hard support makes this even more impressive.
Although Tundra didn’t manage to break Medusa’s late-game siege, which led to a loss, the bottom line is that breaking Gaimin’s mid-player should be in Quest’s game plan. Moreover, Quest has had a similar encounter, where they managed to shut down Quinn enough to win them a match in Riyadh Masters Group Stage.
Tundra Esports after losing 1:2 to Gaimin Gladiators
Gaimin’s Game Plan
For Gaimin, losing is absolutely inexcusable for the strongest Dota 2 team in Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (DPC 2023). Although Gaimin’s Medusa looked overpowered in their last match, she isn’t foolproof. Perhaps, also stop giving Quinn Pangolier as a mid-hero.
Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov from Gaimin Gladiators
On which heroes to ban, Quest’s hero pool is decently big, such that they won’t be worrying too much about Gaimin banning their popular heroes. However, knowing WEU teams, the most picked heroes are oftentimes the most banned heroes too, aka the meta cheese picks. It would be interesting to see how Quest diversify their picks as they face Gaimin.
Picks aside, Gaimin has much to worry about their team morale, especially after such a close series vs Tundra and even more heartbreaking, a loss by Team Liquid. Viewers noted how visibly discouraged Quinn was when his Dota 2 Pangolier had zero impact and losing.
However, in both instances where Quinn didn’t perform, another player stepped up his game to carry Gaimin. It was Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov, who played the same Medusa we mentioned earlier and delivered the comeback for Gaimin despite Tundra’s better performance.
While a match between two WEU teams might seem unappealing since they frequently play and scrim against one another. Quest Esports is easily one of only two opponents at Riyadh Masters that could potentially end Gaimin Gladiators’s winning streak. If so, it would be a devastating outcome for Gaimin, just months before TI12.
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